By the Numbers: Big Reductions From Trans Fat Restrictions

Stroke, heart attack cases declined quickly

The FDA's plan to finally eliminate trans fatty acids in the food supply next year is expected to have a positive impact on public health. Now, a study published in JAMA Cardiology puts some real analysis behind the move, showing that removing trans fats from local markets dramatically reduced stroke and heart attacks -- by roughly 8% over and above reductions seen elsewhere.

Eric J. Brandt, MD, of Yale University, and colleagues looked at hospital admissions in a number of New York counties that instituted their own TFA elimination policies. Those figures were then compared to admissions in counties that did not implement such policies, after adjusting for a variety of factors, over a 12-year period that spanned implementation of the trans-fat restrictions.

Before the restrictions were put in place, the authors found, rates of myocardial infarction and stroke were already declining at similar rates across the state. After the anti-TFA policies, though, the rate of decline in counties with such policies sped up significantly. Three years after the restrictions, the additional reduction was equivalent to roughly 43 MI or stroke events per 100,000.

Other factors could have had an impact. During the period analyzed, New York City required eateries to post caloric information and extended the Smoke Free Air Act. Even with New York City excluded from the analysis, though, the results still showed a significant reduction in cardiovascular events.

"Our results show the potential benefit of the FDA's comprehensive restriction on PHOs, which is the source of TFAs in most packaged food," the authors wrote.